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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28327821">Gilmore Girls: Act II</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Callmegoddess618/pseuds/Callmegoddess618'>Callmegoddess618</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Gilmore Girls</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Original Character(s), References to Leverage, References to Supernatural (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 17:48:37</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>15,607</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28327821</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Callmegoddess618/pseuds/Callmegoddess618</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Written post-A Year in the life, mostly canon compliant. This is my version of what happens next, how Rory raises her daughter, how Logan is not like Christopher, and most importantly: How Jess and Rory find each other after everything they've been through. It was written mostly for my incredible sister who was considerably more upset than I was with the way A Year In The Life ended. She wanted a happy ending, she wanted Jess and Rory to find each other. I mostly just wanted Jess to beat the hell out of Logan. In the end, we both got what we wanted. Enjoy it Natalie, all 31 pages, and Merry Christmas.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Luke Danes/Lorelai Gilmore, Rory Gilmore/Jess Mariano</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>40</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Gilmore Girls: Act II</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/natalie/gifts">natalie</a>.</li>



    </ul></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Part 1<br/>“Mom?” Rory sighed out, the weight on her chest and the thoughts in her head jumbling up. She was scared, and she could see, really see, for the first time how her mother had to have felt when she was just 16. Her voice cracked a little on the word.<br/>“Yeah?” Lorelai responded and Rory knew she would have to say the next words quick, like ripping off a bandaid. She turned to face her mom, who was still looking across the town from the steps of the gazebo.<br/>“I’m pregnant” Rory still couldn’t stop the shaking in her voice, and she leaned back a bit as Lorelai turned to face her. The shock was all Rory could see in her face. It wasn’t normal for Lorelai to be speechless, but nothing followed those two words for a few thundering heartbeats. Finally, it came.<br/>“What?”<br/>Just the one word, and Rory started to say it again, she was pregnant, but her mother found her voice as questions started pouring out.<br/>“Who? What? When? Who? How? No, don’t answer that, we all know how. Who? I thought you and Paul…. But then there was that thing with Logan and Kirk said he saw them out here a few weeks ago, and then we all know Jess and Dean were in town recently”<br/>“Mom!!” Rory shouted, indignant, angry. She didn’t admit to herself how badly she needed her mother to support her at that moment, but the way Lorelai was acting hurt her.<br/>“Don’t act like this would be anything new for you Rory. I don’t want to ask these questions, but I have to. Did you think that I would want to have to ask who is the father of my daughter’s child? I don’t, but I have to because you’ve never been the best decision maker when it comes to boys!”<br/>“Mom, the father is Logan! Of course it’s Logan. I haven’t been with anyone but Logan for a year! I tried to make it work with Paul, but I couldn’t…I love Logan. I know he’s with someone else, but I love him. And now…..I wanted your support”<br/>“Well, that’s a little tough to give when you’re jobless, homeless, and pregnant by someone else’s fiancé! I thought you grew out of this after that mess with Dean! I wish I could say this isn’t you, but it is. It really is”<br/>“I wanted you to be happy with me! Happy for me! I needed your support! I didn’t need you to turn into Emily!”<br/>The horror on Lorelai’s face as Rory flung Emily’s name at her gave Rory the break in the conversation she needed to get up and run from the gazebo. She couldn’t sit here and have her best friend throw every bad choice she ever made in her face, not at this moment. She had to get out, get away, she had to breathe. She went to the one place in town she knew would always be there, the one that would never change.<br/>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<br/>Jess stumbled down the stairs leading to the old apartment Luke kept above the diner. He had taken Luke up on the offer to stay the night. He was already in town, and it didn’t make sense to leave to just come back the next morning. Instead of finding an empty diner, he saw Luke prepping a pot a coffee. Jess checked his watch,<br/>“Nope, I didn’t sleep in. What’s going on Luke?” he said as Luke looked up.<br/>“Ah, geez, I’m sorry. I forgot to turn off your alarm.”<br/>“The wedding isn’t off, is it?”<br/>“No, no. No no no. We just…..we got married already,” he hurried along to finish the sentence, drowning out anything Jess might have said. “We didn’t know about doing it, in front of the whole town, and it was bingo night so the pastor was up late anyway, and we just went ahead and got married already. We’re still celebrating today. I’m sorry you stayed the night up there…”<br/>The rest of his sentence trailed off as Jess started laughing. “What’s so funny?”<br/>“You two,” Jess smiled, “You just went ahead and did it. I’m so proud of you kids.”<br/>“Yeah yeah, help me set up for today, will you?” Luke said, but he couldn’t help but grin. They’d done it. They’d gotten married. It was all official now. He started firing up the grill in the back while Jess went to take down chairs form on top of tables.<br/>Jess looked outside across to the gazebo and he saw Lorelai and Rory. His heart jumped, it’s usual reaction to anything having to do with Rory, but then he frowned as he saw them both stand up. He couldn’t hear what they were saying, but there was definitely shouting going on.<br/>“Luke?” he called, as he watched Rory turn and run towards the lake. “You might want to check on your wife. I think she and Rory had it out over something”<br/>“What?” Luke popped up from the kitchen door jam, looking to where Jess was pointing.<br/>“I’m gonna check on Rory. You got Lorelai?” Jess asked, not waiting to hear the answer, he knew what it would be anyway, as he threw open the diner door and raced to the bridge. She wouldn’t go anywhere else. He still knew her.<br/>As he reached the bridge, he saw her sitting down, her legs hanging off the edge. She looked up at him, tears in her eyes, and he was transported back in time for a moment, to another time she had been on this bridge, looking up at him, having run away from a painful situation, the tears in her eyes as heavy now as they were then. The young girl with her a long coat and spotted dress, with her hair pinned up in curls, flashed through his mind. But he was older now, and he knew better then he did back then. He didn’t push. He didn’t pry. He just sat down on the bridge next to her and waited.<br/>Rory didn’t say anything when she looked up and saw Jess there. For a minute, she saw him younger than he was, flashing back to the night Dean had broken her heart for the second time, at the dance competition. She closed her eyes and pushed the thought back. She felt Jess settle in next to her. He didn’t say anything, and for that, she was grateful. She wasn’t sure how long they’d been sitting there when she finally spoke.<br/>“I’m pregnant” she said, for the second time today. She didn’t know what to expect from him, but she knew his reaction couldn’t be worse than her mother’s.<br/>“Oh”<br/>His heart felt like it had been clawed open, which wasn’t right. She wasn’t his. Hadn’t been his for years, and that was on him. He had accepted that a long time ago. There were things in his life he wanted to take back and the moment he decided to leave Stars Hollow at 18 had been a big one.<br/>“Yeah” Rory replied.<br/>“So……Paul? Then?” Jess asked, not sure if he had gotten the name right.<br/>“No. Logan. It’s….he came to Stars Hollow, about a month ago. It was after I had just taken over the Gazette and I was feeling lost and I had called him and hung up and he knew something was wrong and he came, with some of the Life and Death Brigade and we spent a night at a bed and breakfast and…….it was stupid.”<br/>“Hey,” Jess said, turning her face to him. “It’s not. You love him, and this is good news, right?”<br/>“He’s engaged to someone else. In London. We’ve been…….whatever we are, for a few years now. Whenever I was in London, I was staying with him, while he was dating her. I don’t know how to tell him. I don’t know if I want to tell him.”<br/>Jess sat with that confession for a minute. He knew her life had gotten off track. She wasn’t working, not really, and she had moved back in with Lorelai, but this….she had been off track for a while.<br/>“Do you love him?” he asked, afraid of the answer.<br/>“Yes. No. I don’t know. It doesn’t matter. Whatever we have, whatever I feel, I’m not moving to London and becoming Mrs Logan Huntzberger. I never wanted that.”<br/>“You don’t have to. Rory, hey, look at me” he said, standing up as she stood up. “You don’t have to. But….you’ve got to tell him.”<br/>“I don’t know how. I don’t know how to handle any of this.”<br/>“What did Lorelai say?”<br/>“She freaked. She asked who the father was and started accusing Dean and Logan and you….”<br/>“Wait,” Jess interrupted. “Did you tell her it was Logan?”<br/>“Yes!” Rory shouted, her indignation and temper spiking again. “Yes! But she wouldn’t listen. She was throwing all that tuff with Dean and Lindsey in my face and I got mad and said she was acting like her mother and I couldn’t…..ugh!”<br/>Jess grabbed her hands and held her still for a moment, trying to stop the crazed pacing and pulled her close at her cry of frustration. She fell against his chest and started crying.<br/>“I don’t know what to do” she sobbed against him.<br/>He held her there, shushing her as she cried, letting her get it all out. Finally, she calmed down and just lay against him. He didn’t want her to move from there. Not ever. But he had learned a long time ago that he couldn’t follow his impulses with her. She meant more to him than she would ever know, but he wasn’t about to take advantage of what she was going through. He had to set her straight, put her on the right path. Maybe, one day, it would lead to him. But he understood how Luke went through all those years watching Lorelai make mistakes. If they were meant for each, they would find their way back to each other. If not, he wasn’t going to hold her back. He let her go and watched as she squared her shoulders and breathed in a deep, shaky, calming breath.<br/>“Call Logan. Tell him. Then go see Lorelai. Talk to each other. You’ll make up. You always do. I’m gonna be in town for another week or so. The publishing house is thinking of expanding into Hartford. There’s a smaller company we’re thinking of acquiring, and I’m supposed to look into it some more while I’m down here. I’m going to be staying at Luke’s for the time being. If you need anything, I’m here. I’m always here.”<br/>He picked up her cell that had fallen on the bridge and pressed it into her hands, kissed her on the forehead, and walked back toward town.<br/>Rory stared at the phone, feeling calmer and more in control. Jess was right. She would get through this. It struck her, that this wasn’t the first time he had steadied her when she was unsure of her next step. She could always rely on him to set her back on the right path. She unlocked her screen and scrolled through her contacts until she found Logan. Taking a deep breath, she hit the call icon.<br/>“Hey Ace” she heard Logan’s voice coming over the phone and the shower running in the background. “Now is not the best time, can I call you back?”<br/>“No. Its important. I need to talk to right now.”<br/>“Okay, give me one second.” She could hear a muffled conversation and a woman’s voice coming through the speakers, Logan making excuses, saying it was a business call and then the closing of a few doors and his voice came back. “Alright, Ace, what’s so important?”<br/>“Logan, I……” Rory trailed off, unsure how to say it. Telling her mom, telling Jess, all of that was easier than this.<br/>“Ace?” She heard Logan say and realized she’d been silent for a bit too long.<br/>“I’m pregnant. I know we always said that what happened in London and the bed and breakfast, it stayed there, but this can’t stay there and I didn’t know how else to tell you.”<br/>“Logan?” Rory asked when there was no response.<br/>“Yeah Ace. I heard you. I’m just not sure why you called to tell me. Do you need the name of a good doctor?”<br/>“What?”<br/>“Because I can give you the name of a good doctor in the states. Summer, a couple of Finn’s girlfriends, I think even Odette used him before. He’s a good guy, he’ll handle it, and I’ll have him send the bill to me. Don’t worry about it”<br/>“No!” Rory screamed. Out of all the possibilities for this conversation, this was not one she had thought of. “No I don’t need the name of a good doctor. Not like that anyway!”<br/>“Look, Ace, I’m gonna be in New Haven next week for an alumni thing, and we can talk about how to take care of this problem then. Odette just got out of the shower and I have to get back. I’m sorry, I’ll see you at dinner next week, text me the details.”<br/>Rory stared at the phone, called ended flashing above Logan’s name on the screen. She wondered if her mom had ever had that kind of conversation with Christopher. The thought had crossed her mind, but she had decided it against it after talking with Christopher at the office the other day. Her life, her mom’s life, they were meant to unfold how it had. She knew that, whatever happened, this kid, her kid, was the same blessing in her life that she had been in her mother’s. She wasn’t going to take Logan up on his offer. If he didn’t want to be a dad, then he didn’t have to. She squared her shoulders and headed to the house. It was time to be an adult.</p><p>Luke looked across the square to the gazebo as Jess bolted out the door to see that he was right. Lorelai had been fighting with Rory. He watched her look in the direction Rory had gone and then watched her fold up her arms, that same stubborn, hurt look he had seen on her dozens of time. She looked into the diner and their eyes met. She started walking to the door and he pulled out one of his coffee mugs, the ones that were more bowl than mug, and poured a cup. He set it on the bar, right next to the register and reached under the bar to grab a plate, then lifted the glass dome covering the danishes, picked out a cheese danish, and set it on the plate. As Lorelai entered the diner and sat down, he pushed the plate to her, saying nothing. He let the silence hang between them, knowing it would end when Lorelai was ready, which was never very long.<br/>
“Rory’s pregnant”<br/>
“What? Who? When? Who?” his questions earned a half smile from Lorelai. “Jess? He said that was long over. I can’t believe-“<br/>
“No not Jess. I would be….it would be better if it was Jess. No, Logan was in town about a month ago, and apparently the fact that they were both with someone else has never really kept them apart for very long. I should have seen this coming.”<br/>
“There’s no way you could have seen this coming”<br/>
“Yes there is. This is what Rory does. She sleeps with married guys, or almost married guys, and ruins their relationships, but this. Oh, this is different. I don’t know how she could have screwed up like this. She knows better. I taught her better”<br/>
“Whoa, Lorelai, calm down. It’s not a screw up. She’s pregnant. She’s 32. She’s got a job, running the Gazette, and she can find a place to live. That’s if Logan doesn’t step up and do the right thing”<br/>
“He wont” Lorelai snapped out and Luke gave her a reproaching look. She looked up at him, still pouting a little. “he won’t! Guys like Logan don’t do the right thing. The right thing is not carrying on with my daughter behind his fiance’s back. That is not the right thing. And even if he did, which he wont, but even if he did, Rory already turned him down once. She wouldn’t change her mind just because she got pregnant. That’s not her. Rory’s the most stubborn person I know. She’s determined to do this thing by herself.”<br/>
“Well, she is your daughter.”<br/>
“Yeah but-“<br/>
“She’ll be fine. We’ll help her. It’s what parents do.”<br/>
“Okay” Lorelai sighed out, still pouting, but her heart wasn’t in the fight anymore. Luke had always been a sort of de facto dad to Rory, but hearing him call himself Rory’s parent warmed Lorelai’s heart. They had found their way back to each other, for real, officially, and forever this time. Whatever happened, they would handle it together.<br/>
“Why don’t you head back to the house? I’m sure Rory will come around soon.” Luke said while handing Lorelai a to-go cup. “I’ll get the diner up and running and meet you in an hour in front of the gazebo. We are still doing the thing with the town, right?”<br/>
“I love you,” Lorelai said while squeezing his hand. “I’ll see in an hour.”<br/>
Luke smiled at her, watching her leave and head toward the house.<br/>
Lorelai sat at the kitchen table, her second cup of coffee half empty on the table in front of her when the front door opened. She pulled down a second cup and poured it, then set in front of the chair opposite her own. She pulled out the chair when Rory walked into the kitchen.<br/>
“I’m sorry kid”, she waved her hand at the chair and then took her own seat, scooting into the table the same time Rory did.<br/>
“I didn’t mean to yell at you like that” Rory said softly, staring at her coffee cup and fiddling with the handle.<br/>
“I know. I didn’t mean to lash out at you either, I just….I’m worried for you. I know this going to be hard for you. I didn’t want you to have to go through this alone the way I did.”<br/>
“I know, but I’m okay with it. I told Logan.”<br/>
“Oh yeah?” Lorelai asked, her nerves showing on her face, and in the tight grip on the coffee cup. “How’d he take it?”<br/>
“He offered to pay for an abortion. Even had the name of a doctor”<br/>
“Oh baby, I’m so sorry”<br/>
“It’s okay. I knew I wasn’t going to be doing this with him. I didn’t expect…..I don’t know what I expected. Not that”<br/>
“I know. Don’t worry. Things will work out. Speaking of, Taylor was looking for you earlier. I ran into him on the way here.”<br/>
“So did I!” Rory brightened up. “I’ve got good news! I know you were worried about me not having a job, and it’s okay, because I do! Taylor said people had really liked the last few issues of the Gazette, and some of the neighboring towns had even started ordering copies, so he offered me a salary! It’s not much, but it’ll be enough for me to afford a small apartment. The place near Lane has a one bedroom available, and I’m talking to them tomorrow. I know I’ll need my own place soon, so”<br/>
“That’s good. Luke and I will help you with anything you need. I’ll be here for you. For whatever you need.”</p><p>END CHAPTER 1</p><p>CHAPTER 2<br/>
Rory sat in her hospital bed, holding her daughter, her mother sitting on the edge of the bed, the hospital paperwork on the wheeled table in front of them, the pen on her hand. Rory’s daughter had been born 4 hours ago, and they’d spent 3 of those hours going back and forth on names, much like they’d spent the last 2 weeks.<br/>
“There are only so many nicknames available for Lorelai, and I think we’ve used them all up” Rory said as her mom waved the birth certificate form in front of her.<br/>
“That’s not true. There’s still…Lori” Lorelai responded, pausing for a second before coming up with the newest nickname<br/>
“Lori?”<br/>
“Yes”<br/>
“Lori and Rory?”<br/>
“Yeah yeah, I hear you. But you cannot, you cannot name this sweet baby girl after my mother. My mother! Eugh”<br/>
“Emily is a sweet name, and I know you and mom have your ups and downs, but we both love her, and I think its about time we had an Emily the first, and you were named after your grandma too!”<br/>
“Fine” Lorelai caved, handing the form to Rory.<br/>
“Emily Lorelai?” she asked as she saw Rory fill in the middle name and smiled, a smug, pleased smile.<br/>
“Well, yeah. For you. I couldn’t have done this without you.”<br/>
Rory paused as she got to the last name. In the last 9 months, she had heard from Logan once, and he had made it very clear that, while he would send financial support through his attorney; he didn’t want anything to do with this kid. Rory had, against her better judgement, met him for coffee while he was in New Haven for the Life and Death Brigade ceremonial passing of the baton to the newest generation. She sat in the hospital bed, hand frozen over the form, remembering……..<br/>
“I’m not having an abortion, Logan” She had said, still partially shocked that he thought she would agree to it<br/>
“What do you want from me, Ace?” he had shouted, lowering his voice again as attention turned toward them. “We agreed that what happened in London, stayed there. This is not staying.”<br/>
“I don’t want anything from you. I just wanted you to know that sometime in the next 8 months, you’re going to have a kid. I’m not trying to trap you or steal you from Odette. I wasn’t asking for help. I was just letting you know.”<br/>
“Yeah well, I appreciate that.” He snapped back, sarcasm dripping from every word.<br/>
“Look, you’re the one that wanted to meet. You knew I wasn’t going to take you up on that offer. I know you knew that”<br/>
“I didn’t want this to ruin what we had. We have a good thing going.”<br/>
“We don’t. I put an end to it in Finn’s new place for a reason. We don’t have a good thing going. I didn’t want to be….what I was. Even before I knew I was…..it was over” she said, standing up.<br/>
“Don’t leave like this,” Logan said, grabbing her wrist as she tried to walk past. “I don’t want this to be it for us, Ace”<br/>
“It is it for us” she had said, yanking her wrist out of his grip “And stop calling me that. Please. My name is Rory. I’m not……I’m not yours anymore”<br/>
She had walked out. Weeks later, she got a letter from an attorney who represented him. In the letter, it contained an offer for monthly child support checks, if she would agree to 2 conditions. The first was that Odette was never to know that the child in question was Logan’s. The second was that Rory had sole custody and did not request any further help, including any sort of forced visitation. After trying to get ahold of Logan for months, she signed the agreement and sent it back.<br/>
Staring at the last name line on the form in front of her, she breathed in, steadying herself, fighting back the memories of her last contact with Logan. She wrote “Gilmore” and looked up at her mom.<br/>
“So, the world has another Emily Gilmore in it?” Lorelai asked, trying to the lighten the mood<br/>
“It does” Rory handed the pen to her mom, letting her fill in the rest as she looked at her daughter, letting the love for her wash away any old feelings and memories</p><p>PART 3<br/>
“Hang on, hang on” Rory said to the pounding on her front door.<br/>
She was struggling with Emily’s shoes. As soon as she got one buckled, the other one would fly across the room and Emily giggled. It was one of her favorite games, and while usually Rory was happy to indulge her, today they were running late. The tiny one bedroom apartment was a mess, Lorelai was supposed to be over any minute to pick up her and Emily on a trip to Nantucket to see Emily the First, and she finally threw her hands in the air and pulled off the shoe that she had just fastened.<br/>
“Say kiddo, how would you feel about putting on your shoes when we get to great grandma’s house?”<br/>
“No shoes?” Emily asked “No shoes! No shoes!” she flung herself off the couch and started dancing in place before spinning, falling down and laughing<br/>
Rory couldn’t help but laugh herself as she opened the door to see Lorelai standing there.<br/>
“No shoes?” Lorelai asked, quickly moving across the living room and scooping up Emily.<br/>
“No Shoes!” Emily responded and then laughed and Lorelai threw her in the air.<br/>
“I’ll meet you guys in the car” Rory said as her phone rang. “I still have to put my shoes on. Not all of us can be no shoes wearing gremlins”<br/>
She waved away Lorelai’s “yeah yeah, hurry up” when she saw Jess was calling.<br/>
“Hey, we were just headed to see my grandma, what’s up?” She asked, sitting down on the couch and sliding her shoes on, the phone help carefully to her head by her shoulder<br/>
“I’ve got good news about the book. The final touches were put on it this morning. It’ll be in book stores next month”<br/>
“Oh my god! Jess! Are you serious?”<br/>
“Yeah. I told you this was happening, and it’s happening now”<br/>
“I can’t believe it!” she squealed out, jumping up and down. “I can’t wait to tell everyone! Oh this is the best news!”<br/>
“I know. I’ll come by next weekend to celebrate with everyone. We can all get dinner and I’ll bring by the first official copy.”<br/>
“That sounds great.”<br/>
“Hey, Rory?”<br/>
“Yeah?”<br/>
“I’m proud of you. I knew you could do it”<br/>
“Thanks Jess.”<br/>
She looked at the phone as the call ended flashed on the screen and raced outside to the old Jeep.<br/>
“Mom, you’ll never guess what happened.” She started, freezing when she looked at her mom, who was holding her own phone to her ear, tears falling from her eyes, hand over her mouth, a look of shock and sorrow.<br/>
“What’s going on?’ Rory asked Luke, who was standing next to Lorelai. “Mom?” she asked again softly as Luke shook his head and raised his hands in an “I don’t know” gesture.<br/>
“Okay, um, we’re about 6 hours away, but we’ll be there as soon as we can” Lorelai said into the phone. “Okay, um, thank you.”<br/>
“Mom, what’s going?” Rory asked as Lorelai hung up the phone<br/>
“Berta found Mom in her bedroom this morning. She had a stroke. They took her to the hospital.”<br/>
“What?<br/>
“Get in the car” Luke interrupted the two of them<br/>
“But” Lorelai started<br/>
“Get in the car” Luke said and they both got in the car while Luke slid into the driver’s seat and started the engine.<br/>
“Luke?” Lorelai started<br/>
“I know. We’ll get there” he replied as he pulled out the parking spot in front of Rory’s small apartment.<br/>
“Hi, I’m looking for Emily Gilmore” Lorelai said the receptionist at the front desk, Rory, Luke, and Emily the younger, snuggled in Rory’s arms, followed in behind her. “I’m her daughter, and this is her grand daughter, great grand daughter, and my husband. She was brought in this morning”<br/>
“Oh yes. She’s in room 118, third floor. I’ll let the doctor know you’re here” the nurse responded, picking up the phone as the 4 of them raced to the elevator.<br/>
As they go to the room, Lorelai stopped outside, her hand gripping Luke’s with a strength that would have surprised him if he hadn’t felt it before. She was scared. Memories of her dad’s death, of getting to the hospital with just enough time to say goodbye, of her mother’s cries, all whirled around inside her and he could practically see the fears in her head. He went to the door and pulled it open, pulling Lorelai along with him, entering the room with Rory and Emily coming in on their heels.<br/>
Emily the first lay in the hospital bed, looking so small, hooked up to machines and tubes, with Lorelai having no idea what any of them did. There was no doctor in the room, and Luke let go of her hand as he kissed her forehead.<br/>
“I’m going to find a doctor. You stay here” he said and he left the room.<br/>
Lorelai knew she wasn’t alone. She knew Rory and Emily were there with her, but she felt alone, in a hospital room, staring at her mother. She walked to her side and sat on the bed next to her.<br/>
“Mom?” she asked in a small voice. There was no response, only the steady beeping of machines and the rise and fall of her mother’s chest. She didn’t know how long she sat like that before the younger Emily came up to her and pulled on the edge of her shirt. She looked up at Rory, whose face had to resemble her own in so many ways.<br/>
She stood up and scooped up the younger Emily in her arms. Walking up to Rory, she pressed her granddaughter into her daughter’s arms. Automatically Rory held her arms out and it seems to snap her out of the shock.<br/>
“Why don’t you two go find some coffee while we wait for Luke to get back with the doctor?” she said.<br/>
“Okay,” Rory replied and she set Emily down, pushing the door open and heading down the hall.<br/>
Lorelai settled back at her mother’s side, looking up when the door opened. Luke entered, along with a doctor and a guy in a suit who was definitely not a doctor.<br/>
“Miss Gilmore?” the doctor asked and Lorelai nodded. “Your mother suffered from a stroke sometime last night. We can only guess how long her brain went without oxygen, but it’s clear that she isn’t going to recover.”<br/>
“But what does that mean? Will she need to live in a nursing home, because she won’t like that. I can take care of her, whatever she needs.” Lorelai could hear her mother’s voice in her head, with no doubt in her mind of what exactly her mother would say if she left her in the care of strangers when her own daughter was perfectly capable of helping her.<br/>
“That’s not-“ the doctor started, cutting off as the door opened as Rory and the youngest Emily entered the room. Rory looked at the doctor and her mother and then Luke, who picked up Emily.<br/>
“Hey Em, why don’t we let the doctors talk to your mom and grandma, and we’ll go get some pretty flowers for the room okay?” He and Emily left the room<br/>
“Um, this is my daughter Rory. I’m sorry, could you?” she said, leaning on Rory<br/>
“What I was saying, your mother went without oxygen to her brain for hours. Right now, she’s on life support. She can’t breathe on her own.”<br/>
“So…are you saying she needs time to recover?” Lorelai asked, refusing to believe, for a second, that there was an alternative<br/>
“I’m saying she won’t recover. Your mother left very clear instructions with her lawyer about what to do in the event she was being kept alive by machines. She didn’t want that.”<br/>
“I know she didn’t want that! She’s my mother, I know what she did and didn’t want, but I’m telling you, there is no way my mother is going to let me live it down if I let your guys turn those machines off.”<br/>
“It’s not you mom” Rory said and looked to the lawyer for confirmation.<br/>
“She’s right” the guy in the suit piped up, opening the folder he had been holding. “Your mother left clear instructions that your daughter was the one to make that decision. She also left you this”<br/>
He held out an envelope, a rich, creamy color, made of the heavy cardstock that Emily had always preferred. She opened it. Inside was a letter written on stationery of the same caliber. It simply read:<br/>
Lorelai,<br/>
I don’t when you will read this, or what the circumstances may be. You and I have had our ups and downs your whole life. I know that, if this is to happen during one of our many spats, you will be insulted that I have chosen Rory to make these decisions. I want you to know, it has nothing to do with whatever fight we may have recently had. I chose Rory because I could not bear to put you through the same pian I went through when Richard died. Rory has been the practical one, the adult in your lives for as long as I can remember. I know my grand daughter can handle this with the strength she received from you. For all the times I neglected to say it, for all the times I let my pride get in the way, I love you Lorelai. </p><p>Lorelai sat into the chair next the hospital bed, reading the letter written by her mother, tears dropping onto her hands. She could hear Rory’s voice, she could hear instructions form the doctors, and none of it registered. She couldn’t tell how long she had been there, staring at the words when she felt Luke pull her to her feet. She knew she would never be able to clearly remember the next week. Most of them were spent in her bed, the TV serving as a nice background noise. There were a few moments she could remember. The funeral service. Her mother’s coffin sinking into the ground. Sitting in the corner at the wake, a plate of food in her lap. There several moments when she could hear Rory asking her a question, only for the question to register what seemed like hours later. She would look up the answer and Rory would be gone.<br/>
Slowly though, the world came back to her. The first day she felt like she was truly present the entire day was 10 days after she had been in the hospital room. She woke up to the smell of coffee on her bedside table and a note from Luke telling her he would be back to check on her at 10. The clock read 9:15. She got up, took a shower and was coming down the stairs in clean slacks and her green dress shirt when Luke opened the door.<br/>
“You’re up” was all he said.<br/>
“I’ve got check on the inn and the spa.”<br/>
“Michel has been-“ Luke started<br/>
“I know” Lorelai said. “But I’ve got check on them both. It’s time to get out of bed”<br/>
“Okay” Luke replied, kissing her and pressing her keys into her hand. As soon as his wife left the house, he called Rory. “Hey, she’s up. She’s checking on the spa and the inn. Can you bring Em over tonight? We’ll all have dinner. It’s Friday.”<br/>
That night, at dinner, Rory noticed that her mother had seemed to come out of her fog.<br/>
“So mom, I talked with Jess about the book.”<br/>
“Oh? How’s it going?” Lorelai asked<br/>
“Well, in 2 weeks, I’ll have a copy to give you to read and in 3 weeks, everyone else can read it too.”<br/>
“That’s great! Are you still selling ad space in the Gazette? You should let Luke and I take out an ad, letting everyone know about it”<br/>
“Oh believe me, everyone knows” Rory said. “I told Miss Patty about it this morning”<br/>
“That should do it” Luke muttered<br/>
“That’s great, hon. I can’t wait to read it.” Lorelai said, and her smile seemed, for the first time in several weeks, genuine.</p><p> </p><p>Two weeks later, Rory stood on the doorstep of Lorelai’s house, the hard cover to her book, her book!!, in her hands. The front cover held a picture of the gazebo in Stars Hollow on the front, in the middle of the winter, covered in snow, with the words “Gilmore Girls” in a thin, wispy font on the bottom. She opened the door, knocking on the side panel as she shouted “Mom?” and then followed Lorelai’s “Up here” to the bedroom.<br/>
“Hey, I know we have dinner tonight, but I wanted to give you this now.” Rory said, handing her the book as she walked in.<br/>
Lorelai sat on the edge of the bed, setting her foot down as she finished zipping up the boots and took the book.<br/>
“Wow.” She said staring at the front cover. “It’s really here. Okay.” She took a deep breath and opened the front cover<br/>
“You don’t have to-“ Rory started, stopping when Lorelai shushed her and waved her hand.<br/>
“Mom,” Rory started a few moments later, as Lorelai’s eyes teared up.<br/>
Lorelai set the book down on the bed and pulled Rory into a tight hug.<br/>
“It’s gonna be great, kid, you know that? It’s gonna be great.” Lorelai said.<br/>
Rory looked down at the open front page, where the dedication read “To the 3 Gilmore Girls who have made my life worthwhile: My grandmother Emily, my mother Lorelai, and my daughter Emily. I could have never done this without you.”<br/>
“She would have loved it” Lorelai said.<br/>
“I know” Rory replied stepping back<br/>
“So you’ll let me know what you think when you’re done?”<br/>
“Yeah, I was just gonna grab breakfast at Luke’s real quick. I’ve got the whole day off to read it. Wanna come?”<br/>
“I’ve got a little bit until I have to get to the book shop. Andrew has a few boxes back there of the book, ready to start selling next week. I think half the town already ordered a copy.”<br/>
Well,” Lorelai said as she grabbed her jacket, Rory following her down the stairs, “At least you’ll sell a couple dozen copies that way. I’ve got a few ordered for the inn, to put with the rest of the books”<br/>
“Mom, you didn’t have to”<br/>
“I know, but I wanted to. I mean, I’m assuming I’m in it. And you said it had the Dragonfly in it, so I figured why not?<br/>
“Look,” Lorelai said, closing the front door behind her and Rory “I know I wasn’t exactly super happy with it when you started, but it’s important to you. And I trust you to get it right. I’m proud of you. I wanted to have a few copies for the inn.”<br/>
“Okay” Rory said, leaning into her mom and hugging her as they walked to Luke’s.<br/>
Two weeks later, Rory was walking to the Gazette when Taylor stopped her on the street.<br/>
“Rory, a word please”<br/>
She turned to face him and regretted stopping when she saw the novel in his hand. For the last week, she had been stopped by everyone in town. Some people wanted to know why they weren’t in the book. Some people objected to the way she portrayed them. Kirk was the only one who seemed perfectly happy with how the book made him look. Dean had called and mostly wanted to complain that she had named him Sam in the book. Apparently, he didn’t think he looked like a Sam.<br/>
“What is it Taylor?” she asked, snipping at him a little harder than she meant to.<br/>
“Hank from Woodbury wants me to have you give him a call. Something about our Gazette and their Herald running a feature together. Now, I know you think the Gazette is small time, but I want you to be careful with Hank. He’s a mean old man, and he’ll do anything to make Stars Hollow look bad, especially after all the good press your book has brought us”<br/>
“Oh” Rory was a little shocked. She had approached the editor of the Herald a few weeks back, trying to drum up more business for the Gazette, trying to expand the circulation past Stars Hollow, and she was glad to see that it might actually be able to happen. “I’ll call him later today, and I’ll keep your advice in mind.”<br/>
“You do that, young lady. I can’t wait to read the next issue.” Taylor said, slapping the book on his palm and walking away.</p><p>As soon as Rory hit the doors of the Gazette, she heard the shrill cry of the phone and she raced to answer it.<br/>
“Gazette, Rory speaking.” She said as she set her bag down<br/>
“Rory, its Angela” came the answer on the phone, the writer/editor of the Herald on the other end<br/>
“I was just about to call you. Taylor, our town magistrate, said he got a call from your magistrate?”<br/>
“Yeah, I guess he’s worried about how much Taylor has to do with this deal. These guys don’t trust each other at all.”<br/>
“Yikes. So, are you still in?” Rory asked. Angela, like her, was barely starting out with running the paper. Rory knew what they could accomplish together. She had bounced several of the ideas for really getting the paper up and running off of Jess and he had agreed with her. The Gazette could be so much more than it was, especially now that her book had been drawing so much attention to the town.<br/>
“Of course I’m still in. An interview with you, running in both papers? It’ll put us both on the map in a big way. Do you still want to meet in New Haven for coffee?” Angela asked<br/>
“I think it’s safest. I’ll keep dodging Taylor, you keep dodging Hank, and by Friday, the interview will be in both papers and they’ll do what they do best, spin it to make themselves look good.”<br/>
“Sounds perfect. I’ll see you today at 4. I’ll text you the address.”<br/>
“Thanks Ang”<br/>
As Rory hung up the phone, she was swelling with pride. It had been her idea to run an interview with her in the Gazette, an exclusive posted online. Gilmore Girls had been a bigger hit than she or Jess had ever dreamed of. He had to outsource printing to a bigger publishing house just to meet up with demands as word had spread with her book. An exclusive interview with her, running in the Gazette, posted online would not only draw more attention to the book, but it would also draw great attention to the Gazette. Journalism was still her dream, her big goal, the one thing she wanted to succeed at more than anything. But she couldn’t very well interview herself and using a bigger publication would cause problems with her running the story in the Gazette as well. Lane had sent her on a last ditch effort to talk with Angela, who had inherited her grandfather’s paper in Woodbury 2 years ago and was desperately looking for a way to put her small town paper into more houses than the ones in Woodbury.<br/>
She and Angela had gotten along like a house on fire. As soon as she brought the idea up, Angela jumped all over it. She had only one condition for interviewing Rory: she had to be able to print the interview in the Herald as well. Rory agreed, and so it was set. </p><p>“Everyone knows you drew a lot of inspiration from your life and your mother’s life, but I want to know, where does the story diverge from reality?” Angela asked as they sat at the HotSpot, a coffee shop just outside New Haven that was trying to be a knock off Starbucks, complete with wifi hotspots and crappy, overpriced, over decorated coffee drinks with ridiculous names. But the prices were cheaper than Starbucks, and so a lot of college students bustled in and out around them.<br/>
“Well, I did change several of the names, to try and preserve the anonymity of people like my ex boyfriends. Some of them don’t have public lives and I know they’d prefer to remain that way. But other than that, the book is as truthful as my own recollection of events.”<br/>
“Why did you choose to start it at the week of you entering Chilton? We get some background from your mother, but we miss everything about you growing up, with only some references here and there. What made you make that choice?”<br/>
Rory paused for a second. The real reason hurt to share, still, but she had promised Angela she wouldn’t lie during the interview, no matter what she was asked, and Rory had to sick to that.<br/>
“I always felt like my life entered a new chapter when I started Chilton. Not because of the education, not because I met my first boyfriend around then, not for any of the reasons people might think. The deal my mom made with my grandparents, them paying for my school in exchange for Friday night dinners, that changed everything. Before then, we would come over at Christmas, sometimes Easter, and there would be the annual birthday dinner, but there wasn’t a real relationship there. When my mom opened that door, our lives changed forever, for the better. I built a new relationship with my grandparents and so did my mom. It truly felt like, despite everything that happened before, my life as a Gilmore Girl truly started then. I had planned to start the book much earlier, but then, just before the book left editing and was on it’s way, my grandmother died. Doing it this way was a gift to her and my grandfather, one I hope they can still, somehow, appreciate.”<br/>
“I can’t imagine that made the editors very happy.”<br/>
“Well, I got lucky. The editor and I have known each other for a long time. He knew what it meant to me and he pushed for it just as hard. Luckily, he also co-owns the publishing house, so it worked out well”<br/>
“Indeed. Can you tell us how you know him? Is he in the book?”<br/>
“He is. I don’t know how much he’s comfortable with people knowing, so I won’t say who he is, but he is in the book.”<br/>
“I understand. Now, can you tell us if we can expect another book? This one ends right when you go off to Yale and I think I speak for a lot of fans when I say, we all wants to know what happens next.”<br/>
“There will be another book now, I’m sure. I actually ended the story entirely differently, but it was a huge piece of work. The editor convinced me to cut it into two parts. The second part is written, and, with all the interest in the book, it’s being edited now. I can safely say that there will be a part two”<br/>
“I think we’ll all look forward to that.”<br/>
At that, the interview ended. As Angela stuck the recorder back in her pocket, Rory breathed out a sigh, relaxing.<br/>
“I’ve never been on this side of the interview before. How did I do?” she asked Angela<br/>
“I wish everyone who I interviewed had been that easy.” Angela said, giggling a bit. “I don’t have nearly as much work to do with you as I normally do”<br/>
“That’s a relief.”<br/>
“I’ll send the transcript over to you along with the final piece on Tuesday,” Angela said<br/>
“That’s only 2 days. Are you sure you can do it that quick?” Rory was taken aback. She knew Angela worked quick, but that was faster than she imagined<br/>
“This is the biggest piece I’ve ever done. It’s top of my list” Angela replied and Rory understood.<br/>
“Okay. I’ll call you as soon as I read it”<br/>
“Do me a favor and ask that editor of yours if he wouldn’t mind being named in the piece. I think people would love to know how long you’ve been in love with him” Angela said, then she hugged Rory and bolted out the door while Rory stood, frozen<br/>
She knew she still had feelings for Jess, but it never occurred to her that other people might be able to tell as well. Jess had been a great friend, supporting her, helping her, even lending her money when she had been in a bad place a few months after Emily had been born. Even through her obsession phase with Logan, she had never quite shaken Jess off, and throughout the whole editing and publishing process, Jess had been the kind of guy she had always needed him to be.<br/>
But she knew they couldn’t be together now. Emily was too young, still fully dependent on Rory. Rory’s career as a writer was just hitting it off. And her grandmother’s will had left her, well, basically everything. Sure, some money had gone to her mom, and she had left a decent chunk to the whaling museum, but last week, Rory had gotten enough money in the bank that she would never have to worry about money again. It had been enough that she had contacted the lawyer Logan sent money to her through and told him that she wanted to talk with Logan. She didn’t need his support anymore and was fully ready to take Emily off his hands for good.<br/>
Rory shook her head, shaking herself out of her thoughts and sat back down at the coffee table. She pulled out her phone and called Jess.<br/>
“Hey, did you get the latest sales numbers?” he said by way of saying of hello<br/>
“I did and I think my stomach still hurts. That’s a lot of copies.”<br/>
“I’ll say. Stars Hollow tourist’s trade is going to take off this year. Taylor must be over the moon.”<br/>
“He actually teared up when mom told him how booked the inn and spa were.”<br/>
“I almost feel sorry for Lorelai. She’s book through what, the next year now?”<br/>
“Just about. Hey Jess.” Rory paused, unsure of how to put her question<br/>
“Rory?” he said, after a few seconds without words had gone by<br/>
“Yeah, sorry. So, I did that interview today with Angela”<br/>
“Yeah” he said, still waiting for the question she hadn’t asked<br/>
“She asked me about how we knew each other, after I told her about the last minute changes that needed to get pushed through.”<br/>
“Ah”<br/>
“No ah. I didn’t say anything. Actually, I said I wasn’t going to say anything without clearing it with you first. She wants to finish the piece and have it ready and formatted for the Sunday paper and I said I would ask. I changed your name, but if she puts it in the piece that you’re, you know, you, then the name change won’t mean anything”<br/>
“Look Rory,” he said after a few moments. “I know when the book came out that there was a decent chance that someone would put 2 and 2 together and know who I was. And I know I wasn’t exactly the best guy back then, and the book ending right when you went to Yale, and that…..the call being in there. I know it made me look not great, but I wasn’t great. There is no amount of apologizing, nothing I can do that can take it back, or fix it, or make it better.”<br/>
“Jess” Rory started<br/>
“No, let me. Rory, I should have said this a long time ago. I never did, mostly because I knew it wouldn’t change anything. But let me say it now. I was a world class jerk. I treated you like dirt. I was wrong, every step of the way. The little things I did, the little ways I said I love you, none of it meant a damn thing when I abandoned you. I would never change it, because we are who we are because of it, but I am sorry I hurt you. I’m okay with you letting them know that who I am, who I was.”<br/>
Rory was stunned. After a few beats, when he heard nothing, Jess spoke again. He knew Rory, knew he had shocked her, but also knew that she needed time to process everything. He had long ago resigned himself to the fact that he was now in the same boat Luke had lived in for almost 20 years, and he was fully prepared to spend 20 years in that damn boat, holding on to hope. He was going to Love Rory forever. If she never loved him back, then it was what it was, but he would always be there for her, regardless.<br/>
“You don’t have to say anything, Rory. Tell Angela she can run the piece with my real name, and the connection. It’ll be a big scoop for her. I’ll see you on Sunday, after I read the piece, at dinner at Luke’s, like usual. Bye Rory”<br/>
“Bye Jess” she said.<br/>
She didn’t know what to make of what Jess said. She put it aside, ready to deal with it later, and called Angela. Jess was right, it would be perfect for the piece, the perfect big reveal, and would draw in a lot more attention.<br/>
Rory stared at the screen with Angela’s interview. The words leapt out at her. “Rory’s face lights up as she mentions her old flame, who she calls Alex in the novel, her editor and co-owner of the publishing house who put out her novel. Whether she still lives him or not is unclear, the words ‘I think I might have loved you’ can still be seen echoing through time even now”. She had to admit, the reveal that Jess and Alex are the same person was subtle, but it was still clear enough that the last bit of the interview was perfect. It would draw fans from everywhere to the Gazette and the Herald as it was re-printed in magazines and quoted on morning talk shows.<br/>
Angela sat in the chair on the other side of the desk, waiting<br/>
“Well??” she finally asked when she couldn’t wait another second.<br/>
“It’s great. Perfect really. This is exactly what we needed.” Rory sad and Angela shot out of her seat and hugged Rory, almost knocking the chair over<br/>
“I know!! It’s perfect! You’re still good with splitting everything 50/50 right?” Angela asked as she pulled back, allowing the chair to spring back into its upright position.<br/>
“Of course. This is a true partnership, Ang.” Rory said, and she meant it. She loved Lane, but in Angela she had found someone who could share her passion for the job and she understood what Sookie meant to her mom in a way she never had before.<br/>
“Awesome!” Angela sang out. “I’m gonna get back to the Herald. I’ve got to put this together in the layout. Front page news in the making here! I can’t wait until we start hearing from everyone, wanting to quote it and re-run in their own papers! It’ll be amazing.” She sang out the last word again and sped out of the office. Rory grabbed Eric, Andrew’s cousin who had recently graduated Connecticut state and had asked her about a career in journalism. For the last 2 months, he had been helping her with the Gazette. The older couple who was here when she took over had retired last year, and Rory desperately needed someone to help her out. When Andrew, who’s job at the bookstore had been the only thing keeping food on the table while the Gazette barely covered her bills for the last year and a half, had asked her about a job for Eric, she jumped at the chance.<br/>
“Okay, we’ve got get this into the layout for this week. I agree with Angela, it should definitely be on the front page. Can you pull out the layout board?” she said, referring the long table she still placed everything in by hand. While most of the work was done digitally, she still preferred to see it all laid out, page after paid pasted together in a hodge-podged art project style on the long tables. The Gazette only had 15 or so pages in each issue, and while she had eventually gotten the town used to some changes, there were a few pieces, like the poem, that remained static. It was easier to see things laid on in front of her. </p><p>They worked on the layout all day, ad, as 5 rolled around, Rory’s phone alarm jolted them both out of their rhythm. It was there to remind her to pick up Emily from Sheila’s Day care. Sheila was Miss Patty’s youngest niece from her 3rd marriage and had been helping Miss Patty for the last year, after the unfortunate stage incident had led to a broken femur. Together, they ran the best daycare in Stars Hollow, that closed promptly at 6 every day of the week, except Sundays when it was closed. Luckily, Lane was always willing to help out with Emily, who had shown a huge aptitude for drums and a joy in rock music that Lane was more than happy to help cultivate.<br/>
“Alright Eric, time to close up shop for the day. We’ll finish the last ages tomorrow and start getting everything printed for Sunday by Thursday.”<br/>
They closed up and Rory bounced down the sidewalks. She could feel the winter chill in the air and smiled as the first flakes of the year fell onto her hair. She could hear her mom’s voice ringing in her ear. “I smell snow” and knew that she and Emily would stop by Lorelai’s on the way home for some cocoa and snow angels.</p><p>Part 4<br/>
“Happy Birthday to you.<br/>
Happy Birthday to you<br/>
Happy Birthday dear Emily!<br/>
Happy Birthday to you!”<br/>
The song ended in a cheer as Emily stood up and blew out the 8 candles on the triple chocolate cake Luke had made for her the night before. He had tried with all his might to get her to change her mind for weeks, but in the end, Emily hadn’t budged. A 3 layer chocolate cake with chocolate chips and chocolate frosting with chocolate sprinkles and chocolate ganache filling had been prepared for the youngest Gilmore’s 8th birthday party. Like her mother and grandmother, Emily held a superhuman tolerance for all things junk food that amazed doctors and surprised no one in town. Chocolate held a special place in her heart and was her favorite food group. Soon, the cake was cut and plates with forks and cake were sent around the room, as Emily, Carla, Sandra, Aiyden, and Jamie all sat in a circle and started talking a mile a minute, cake disappearing in a way no one could truly follow. Their parents kept a watchful eye on them, but settled into a separate circle close by.<br/>
Rory sat next to her mom and Luke, with Jess on the other side of the circle. The Gazette had a staff of 10 now and they all sat in the room as well, the talk turning to music and books as Rory had banned all discussions of work at the party at Lorelai’s urging. The party had been in full swing for a couple of hours now. Games had been played, food had been eaten, opened gifts sat piled high on the table in the living room, with Rory’s neat handwriting in a notebook next to them, the names and details of who had given Emily what written down, ready for Thank You cards to be sent out the next day.<br/>
Rory sat taking it all in. The house she and her mom had picked out a little over 4 years ago, bought with the inheritance Emily the first had left her, had been made into a home. It boasted 4 bedrooms (one for her, one for Emily, a guest room, and a room that she had set aside specifically for Lorelai when she came over, which was at least once a week), a massive library, a kitchen, a dining room, a living room, a study, a playroom that was slowly being converted into a music room for Emily as she got older and kept picking up more instruments. It was much larger than the home she had grown up in, but Rory loved having the extra rooms, each one with its set purpose. And, with the royalties from the Gilmore Girls Trilogy, she hadn’t had to touch the inheritance since she had bought the house.<br/>
Like her mother, she had made sure that her daughter had more than she did, and she loved that feeling. Emily’s dream was to go to Juliard and become a famous musician. Rory encouraged her every step of the way, and Emily was currently learning to play her 3rd instrument. With Lane’s help, she was also writing songs and had a small but dedicated following on YouTube.<br/>
Every day, Rory sat in awe of her life, of how far she had come, and couldn’t help but be grateful that she, like her mother, had made the choice to go it alone as a parent. It was absolutely the right choice.<br/>
“I’ve got it” Rory said as the chime of the doorbell went off.<br/>
“No” she said, slamming the door in Logan’s face as soon as she opened it and saw him there. Jess, Luke, Lorelai, and Lane were at her side in seconds, all of them having seen who it was in that split moment.<br/>
“Alright kids, it’s time for this party to move to the pool!” Jess called out, and all the kids shouted in excitement, rushing to the back door, where the poll and summer heat waited. They had gotten out of the pool an hour ago, and they had been waiting to go back in since the moment they were dry enough to enter the house.<br/>
“I’ve got them” Lane said, pushing Zach out the door. “You guys handle this”<br/>
“Open the door Rory” Logan called out and Rory stood, unable to move.<br/>
Lorelai opened the door, standing in front of Rory. She could still hate Logan, the way she could never hate Christopher, for everything he had done. For being angry at Rory for not having an abortion, for communicating through his lawyer alone for 8 years, for showing up uninvited, for never being around for his daughter; and, going back even further, she hated him for the way Rory had cried on the bathroom floor, still feeling the effects of the Founder’s punch. Rory had gotten over Logan, but that didn’t stop Lorelai from hating him.<br/>
“What do you want?” she said<br/>
“I came to talk to Rory” Logan said, trying and failing to push past Lorelai.<br/>
He instead stood on the door step, trying to address Rory alone, while she stood here, with Jess on one side, Luke on the other, and Lorelai in front of her.<br/>
“So? Talk” Lorelai said. Keeping him from entering the house.<br/>
“Rory?” he said, looking at them and then at her, silently pleading with her to make them all leave<br/>
“Go ahead, Logan, talk” Rory said.<br/>
“Okay” he huffed out. “I wanted to see my daughter. To spend her birthday with her. I have a right to, she is mine.”<br/>
“Yeah right” Luke snapped out. “You haven’t seen her since she was born and now she’s your kid? You don’t get to claim her just because she’s going to be your only child”<br/>
“You watch your tone,” Logan replied back, matching Luke’s tone with his own temper, reminding Rory of Mitchum’s own attitude on the news, at his trial, before he went to jail for a myriad of charges she had no trouble believing.<br/>
They had all seen in the tabloid news several months ago that Logan and Odette were unable to have kids. Rory had to call in a lot of favors to keep Emily’s name and relationship to Logan out of the papers when a reporter had come sniffing around and seen Logan’s sandy hair, his cheekbones, and the Huntzberger bearing on a little girl with Rory’s blue eyes and Gilmore wit. Logan being the last heir to the Huntzberger empire had been in the tabloid rounds for a while, and it had just died down as they moved on to the latest round of Brad and Angelina drama.<br/>
“You said you didn’t want anything to do with her. You even cut off support 3 years ago. You don’t get to come crawling into her life now, Logan” Rory said, in a tone that they all recognized. She was cold, withdrawn, and looked….exhausted.<br/>
That was not what Logan had hoped to find.<br/>
“Ace,” he started. “Come on, just let me see her.”<br/>
It was the wrong thing to say.<br/>
“Don’t call me that” Rory said, her temper flaring up. “I’m not a 20 year old kid you can impress with your money and careless attitude, Logan. I’m her parent. You said so. You even had a lawyer say so. I spent 16 years with a dad who walk into and out of my life as he pleased and I’ll be damned if I put my daughter through that same crap. I won’t let you do that to her. You can go back to London, you can go to New York, you can go anywhere you like, but you’re not welcome in my home and my town.”<br/>
With that, Lorelai shut the door in the Logan’s face.<br/>
“You’re gonna regret this, Rory!” Logan could be heard shouting through the door. A few moments later, the roar of the engine on his shiny new Porsche could be heard as he sped away.<br/>
“Mom?” Rory asked in a small voice<br/>
“Yeah, babe.” Lorelai said, grabbing a slice of cake and setting it in her hands, answering the unspoken plea for chocolate Rory had sent up with that one word. The four of them sat, eating in silence, letting the chocolate bolster Rory before they went outside to rejoin the still roaring party.</p><p>A month later, the same small “Mom?” met Lorelai as she walked into the house. Rory had called her in a panic an hour before at the inn. Unable to understand anything Rory was saying, Lorelai had said they would meet at the house. Now, the smell of coffee beckoned Lorelai back into her small kitchen. At the table, with a huge mug that was half empty in front of her, sat Rory, a packet of paper in front of her. She handed it to Lorelai, who sat down to read it while Rory stood up and started preparing Lorelai a cup of coffee.<br/>
It was a letter from the law offices Logan had used to send support and sent up the initial arrangement with Rory. In it was a court date, the first of what Lorelai was sure would be many, to determine if Logan could have shared custody of Emily Lorelai Gilmore. It was also a petition to force Rory to change Emily’s last name to reflect her Huntzberger parentage.<br/>
Lorelai read it carefully and then set it on the table<br/>
“That’s bullshit, hon. He’ll never get away with it” she stated<br/>
“He has more money than god, mom. He might” Rory replied<br/>
“It may have been filed in the county courthouse, but babe, you’re pretty well known here yourself.” Lorelai responded. “His money and his name is no match for the Gilmore name, not anymore”<br/>
Lorelai hugged Rory, who sobbed into her shoulders.<br/>
“I can’t lose her, mom. I can’t have her on a plane across the ocean, with him and Odette, in London, without me. He’s not like dad. I don’t trust her with him” Rory said in between sobs.<br/>
“Its okay baby, shh” Lorelai said, still keeping Rory held to her tight.<br/>
They went back and forth, Rory spilling her fears in between sobs, Lorelai soothing her. After a while, when Rory seemed to have calmed down and aired all her worries, Lorelai let go and they sat up. The coffee had grown cold in the cups and Rory made a face when she drank it that made Lorelai laugh.<br/>
“Let’s call that law firm that mom used” Lorelai said, getting up to get her old address book, which still lay in the drawer next to the old phone.<br/>
Two days later they both got out of Lorelai’s Jeep and walked into the office of the law firm. The court date was still 7 weeks away, but the lawyer in question that had taken up their case, one of the partners with the firm, had wanted to meet right away. It was going to be a big case, something that could hopefully be kept out of the news, but would still be one of the biggest cases that had graced the small county courthouse in a very long time. The law firm that the Gilmores had used forever had been swallowed up, and merged into the same firm that Paris had used when she and Doyle had split. The lawyer in question was one Paris had sworn by.<br/>
The lawyer that met them by the receptionist desk was a tall, blonde, leggy woman with heels that looked like spikes.<br/>
“Rory? I’m Katherine” the woman said, sticking out her hand for Rory to shake at Rory’s nod. “Let’s step into my office and we can discuss the particulars of you case. Do you need anything? Coffee?” she asked and then snapped at the receptionist, who stood and disappeared t Rory’s assent to coffee.<br/>
A few minutes later, they were sitting in a huge office, in very comfortable chairs, steaming ceramic mugs of coffee in their hands, with Katherine on the other side of the desk, a computer screen off to the side with all the notes of the case, and a keyboard at her hands, ready to start typing if need be.<br/>
“So, I’ve looked over the papers filed by the attorneys hired by Mr. Huntzberger, and I’ve looked over everything you sent me as well, including the initial agreement signed by the two of you. I’m honestly not sure what his lawyers may have promised him, but I can assure you, there is no way he’s going to get anything more than a few supervised visits a year. He hasn’t paid support in 3 years. Whether or not you needed it is irrelevant. He hasn’t shown any interest in being a part of Emily’s life since before she was born, and even made it perfectly clear that he had no interest and never would. He knows nothing about her, he’s had no contact, and legally meets most of the criteria for abandonment. Yes, he has money, and yes, he has fame, but that also works in our favor. His company has been on shaky legal ground for quite some time, ever since his father’s arrest, and he has years of irresponsible behavior plastered all over every news outlet in the world. I think we’ve got a solid case to keep him far away from Emily.”<br/>
Rory breathed a sigh of relief.<br/>
“Thank you, thank you so much.” She said.<br/>
“Now, the judge is going to want to be sure that you don’t come from the same mold as Mr. Huntzberger. After all, you’ve published books that show some questionable judgement yourself, but most of that can be chalked up to youthful indiscretion. I would prefer to walk into that first meeting with everything I need. Can you tell me what he might say about you to paint you with that same brush?” Katherine asked<br/>
“I honestly can’t think of anything” Lorelai said<br/>
“Well, he could claim that Rory is cut from the cloth he is. He could point to the Life and Death Brigade adventures in the book and her own wealth as evidence of her amoral, irresponsible behavior” Katherine said<br/>
“That’s ridiculous! I haven’t done anything with the Life and Death Brigade since before Emily was born! And I earned my money with the books!” Rory stood up, more than a little pissed that Logan would dredge up the life he had pulled her into as a reason why her daughter wasn’t safe with her<br/>
“I know that. You know that. But we need to show the judge that. We need someone, possibly a few someones, who would be willing to testify to that. Do you have anyone”, and then Katherine added, at Lorelai’s hand raising, “anyone not related to you or employed by you, who would be willing to help out?”<br/>
“Lane, Jess, Ashley, Angela, yeah. I’ve got a few someones alright” Rory responded<br/>
“Good. Get them to write a statement, in their own words, about your current lifestyle, how it differentiates from Logan’s. Make sure I have four or five in my hand before we go to next month. I’ll take it from there.”<br/>
The three of them stood, and shook hands, exchanging goodbyes. As Lorelai and Rory walked back to the Jeep, Lorelai stayed silent as Rory contacted her friends. All of them agreed to write a letter and send it to Rory in the next few weeks. After Rory hung up with Jess, and then went to move on to the 7th person in her phone, Lorelai grabbed the cell phone from her hand.<br/>
“That’ll do pig” she said<br/>
“I’m sorry. I guess I got carried away. I can’t believe this! You know, all this time, I kept comparing Dad and Logan in my head. I mean, they both were raised about the same, they both went to some of the same schools, they both had their parents bail them out whenever things got really rough for a while, and they both were absentee fathers. But at his worst, dad would never, ever do something like this”<br/>
Lorelai let Rory vent for a while longer. As they parked in front of the house, Lorelai unbuckled and faced Rory.<br/>
“Look, I know I haven’t always been the biggest fan of your dad. I know you haven’t either. But he and Logan have never been the same. When I told Chris I was pregnant, he offered to step up and be the dad. I backed out, I ran away, but he was willing to be there. Logan showed you exactly who he was when you called him. I know that, since that day, everything you felt for him died. Logan has never been half the man your dad was. I’m glad you see that now.”<br/>
“I just…..I guess a part of me kept hoping that one day, he would be more like my dad and less like his own.”<br/>
“Hey, that old saying about the apple and tree still hangs around for a reason. After this whole mess is over, we’ll make sure he’s a long distant memory. How is Emily handling all this?”<br/>
“I don’t know. I promised her I’d never lie to her. I told her what was happening, and she asked me if she had to see him. She said thank god when I told her no and that was it.”<br/>
“Well, he is basically a stranger to her. He’s never been a part of her life. She has no memories of him. He hasn’t seen her since she was, what, 6 weeks old?”<br/>
“Yeah. I know, mom.” Rory said. She still couldn’t get Emily’s eyes, big and blue and afraid of being sent away from Rory, out of her mind.<br/>
They said their goodbyes and Rory walked to Stars Hollow Elementary, standing outside with the other parents, exchanging pleasant conversation about the weather and the end of the year parties for the week after next. Rory promised to get Luke to help with the food for the 3rd grade BBQ, and then swung Emily up in the air as she dashed out of the school when the doors opened. Her life was that town, and as she and Emily headed to Luke’s, Rory pushed the stress of the day behind her.<br/>
Four weeks later, Rory and Katherine were seated in Katherine’s office again. The letters of support had grown from 7 to 25 as the townspeople of Stars Hollow heard about the upcoming court date and clamored to support Rory. Some of the letters, like the one written by Kirk and Lulu, they both agreed would never again see the light of the day. But some of them, like the one from Andrew and Sophie Bloom, were definitely going to be brought with them to court. Sophie’s praise of Rory’s support of Emily and her music was sweet enough to make Katherine tear up. But the crown jewel, the one that they both agreed would go first, was the one from Jess. It read:<br/>
To whom it may concern,<br/>
I have known Rory Gilmore for 21 years. She has always been the most grounded, sensible woman I have ever had the privilege to meet.<br/>
She has been a single mother for 8 years now. I say that because I have watched her go through the same struggles her mother went through. I have lent her money. I have answered the call for help babysitting. I have edited stories written on 2 hours of sleep in 48 hours as her daughter went through ear infections and bronchitis. I have brought her coffee as she stayed by her daughter’s bedside after surgery removing tonsils. Her unwavering devotion to her daughter has been her guiding star for the last 8 years.<br/>
For these last 8 years, Rory’s devotion to her daughter has been a gift. To deprive her daughter of this gift and send her overseas with a man who has never been too far behind his father’s footsteps would be a sorrowful and shameful thing. Rory has been for 8 years, Emily’s only parent. She should remain so.<br/>
Sincerely,<br/>
Jess Mariano<br/>
“Well, he is a gifted writer” Katherine said as they set the letter down, having re-read for the 3rd time.<br/>
“Yeah, he is” Rory had read the letter a hundred times. Jess defense of her, while short, had made the torch she had carried for the last 20 years turn into a wildfire. She had no idea how she would tell him that she loved him, but she knew she would have to find a way.</p><p>The hearing did not go well for Logan. The judge read the letters of support out loud, ending with Jess’ letter. The stress of his words, “She should remain so” still rang through the courtroom. The flimsy excuses the fleet of lawyers Logan had brought with him, about his absences, about the initial agreement, about the severing of support; and the attacks on Rory’s character that were painfully out of date with her life over the last 8 years, all of it fell flat in the wake of evidence Katherine brought down. It didn’t help that the visual of Logan in a $10,000 custom tailored suit, with a $20,000 watch, and a team of expensive lawyers sharply contrasted with Rory’s suit that she had purchased at Kohl’s, the simple jewelry she could have picked up at any thrift store, and Katherine’s lone wolf approach. It looked to all the world like Logan was trying to buy his daughter from the judge.<br/>
And the judge was having none of it.<br/>
“Mr. Huntzberger, you have had no contact with the child since she was 6 weeks old. You had an iron clad agreement that she was to be solely Rory’s right and responsibility aside from the meager support you offered, when compared to your means. You’ve suspended your support based on Ms. Gilmore’s own income, showcasing your complete lack of understanding on the responsibilities of parenthood. I see no reason to allow a complete stranger access to this child, and you are, for all intents and purposes, a complete stranger. I’m therefore granting Ms. Gilmore’s request to sever your rights and responsibilities with regards to Emily Lorelai Gilmore.”<br/>
The gavel banged down, and Rory felt her whole body breathe a sigh of relief. Logan swept out of the courtroom, and Lorelai swung herself over the separation between the benches for observers, grabbing Rory. They hugged, they laughed, they cheered, and they cried.<br/>
It was over. Logan could never take Emily away from Rory.</p><p> </p><p>Part 6<br/>
Three years later, Rory sat at the counter at Luke’s, which had closed an hour ago, with Jess’ manuscript to his 4th novel in her hands. He stood on the other side of the counter, filling the coffee pots with water, placing the filters and the coffee for tomorrow morning in them, and waiting, nervously, for her response.<br/>
“Well, what happens next?” she said as she set it down and he grinned, her approval still meaning the world to him, even 29 years later.<br/>
“You’ll have to wait until I’m done writing it” he said and she pouted in return.<br/>
“That’s not fair. You know, tell me. Please tell me”<br/>
“I don’t fully know yet. I’m working on it. You’ll read it when I write it. Now stop pouting at me”<br/>
Rory laughed. They had been easy around each other for a few years now, every since Jess became a daily fixture in her and Emily’s life, helping to run the diner with Luke, picking up where Luke had to leave off after that back injury, a few short months after her victory in court. She hadn’t told him yet how the letter had made her feel, still waiting for him to show her that he hadn’t given up on her. After all, not everyone had Luke’s patience. She cleared the last of the pie of the plate and he took it from her, grinning as he realized she had all but ate the pattern off the olate. He wasn’t the same caliber of chef as Luke, but he did come a close second. She handed the manuscript back to him and stood up, getting ready to leave.<br/>
“Getting back to Emily?” Jess asked<br/>
“No, April’s got her and Tanya tonight. I’m sure they’re all asleep on the couch right now. I needed some quiet time, alone. I’ve still got the layout for next week to finish up, and August’s work always needs some serious editing” she said, referring to the newest writer for the Gazette.<br/>
“If you need help-“ Jess cut off and Rory looked up him in surprise, then followed his gaze to the windows of the diner.<br/>
Outside, tapping on the glass, was Logan. Rory’s heart jumped in her chest, fear crawling across her skin, making it feel tight.<br/>
“What the hell is he doing here?” she said<br/>
“I don’t know. Do you want me to get rid of him?” Jess asked<br/>
“No. No. I’ll handle it” she slipped her coat on and went to walk out.<br/>
“I’m gonna be right here when you’re done” Jess said<br/>
“Thanks” Rory replied, squeezing his hand before she headed to the door.<br/>
The bell chimed as she stepped out and she bundled her coat against her tighter, not as protection against the cold, but as protection against Logan. She hated him, and was scared of him at the same time. Fighting him in court last time had been a town effort and she didn’t want to go through it again.<br/>
“What do you want?” she said, hurrying through the words, knowing that faster she said it, the faster he left<br/>
“I want to see my daughter” Logan said.<br/>
“What daughter? The judge made it very clear, you don’t have a daughter. You can’t just make a contract saying you don’t want anyone to know about her and then change your mind when it’s convenient for you.” She spat out<br/>
“I don’t care. I want to see my kid. You can’t keep her from me.”<br/>
“I didn’t. You made a choice. Now, you live with it. Go away Logan.” She said, turning to walk back into the diner<br/>
Logan grabbed her and spun her around, holding her shoulders. She could smell the alcohol on his breath and winced at the smell, trying to pull away, but he held her.<br/>
“No, you don’t get to just walk away, we’re gonna talk about this” he slurred out, and she kept pulling, trying to twist away.<br/>
“Stop it, just listen” he said, and he slammed her against the glass on the diner, pinning her there, arms on either side of her so she couldn’t leave. “You can’t just leave, you’re gonna listen to me, you have to listen-“<br/>
Rory stood there, in shock, as Logan was shoved away from her, Jess’ arm brushing against hers as he plowed into Logan. The two of them grappled for a moment until Jess got loose and his fist slammed into Logan’s jaw. Logan stepped back, pulled his arm back and missed as he swung at Jess. Jess grabbed Logan’s wrist as it passed him, pulled him off balance so he was on his knees on the ground and wrenched Logan’s arm up. They were frozen, Logan unable to move, on his knees, his arm being pulled straight back. One of Jess’ hands were clamped around Logan’s wrist, keeping his arm pulled back while the other was pressed against Logan’s elbow. Rory didn’t know much, or anything really, about fighting, but it was obvious that if Jess pushed his hand down on Logan’s elbow, it would bend in the opposite direction of how it should. Jess had Logan frozen in what could only be a painful, humiliating way.<br/>
“You should not have touched her” Jess said, in a heated, threatening voice Rory had never heard before.<br/>
“I know, I know! I’m sorry, Rory, I-“ Logan was cut off again<br/>
“Don’t you say a word to her!” Jess bellowed out, pulling Logan’s arm up a little more, causing Logan to bend forward in an awkward sort of bow.<br/>
Jess let Logan go, but stood in between him and Rory, ready to jump in again if Logan took a step toward her.<br/>
“If you ever touch me again, I’ll sue your ass, I’ll own that crappy print shop!” Logan shouted at Jess, standing up, pulling his coat back into it’s proper place<br/>
“Try it, and I’ll make sure Spencer throws you in the cell next to your daddy, now get out of here Logan” Jess snapped back<br/>
Rory watched as the color drained from Logan’s face, both confused and relieved as he turned away toward the Porsche that was on the other side of the road. She and Jess watched as Logan got into his car and sped off.<br/>
“Spencer?” Rory asked as soon as Jess turned to her<br/>
“Are you okay?” he asked, ignoring the question, looking her up and down for any signs of damage<br/>
“My head hurts where it hit the glass, and who is Spencer?” Rory asked again<br/>
“Come on inside, I’ll get some ice for you, and then we’re gonna call the police in this town and have them take a report. He’s never coming back to this town again, I promise” Jess dodged the question<br/>
“Jess, wait,” Rory followed him into the diner, sitting in the seat he pulled out for her as he walked into the back. “Who is Spencer and what does he have to do with Logan’s dad being in jail?”<br/>
“You remember about 7 or so years back, before Luke got hurt, when I said the publishing house had run into some trouble?” he said, pressing the ice to her head<br/>
“Yeah, of course, it was right after the second book was published” she held the ice where had placed it and he sat down in the chair on the other side of the table.<br/>
“Logan’s dad was trying to buy out the place, but we weren’t selling. Then he pulled out this contract from one of our authors who had worked with him and us and tried to make it seem like we had to. I didn’t know what to do. I was talking about with a buddy who heard of this company who helped people like that, people being pushed around by huge corporations, usually ones who did something illegal. Logan got pulled into it somehow, and wound up on the bad side of one of the guys in the group that helped us. Mitchum was trying something very illegal, and he had gotten away with it a few times. That’s when the whole case blew up, became a national story, and everything went downhill from there. After they helped us through it, one of the guys, Eliot Spencer, gave us a way to reach him if Logan ever tried something. I almost gave them a call when he tried to take Emily away. I would have, if it had gone another way. I was just reminding Logan that not everyone is afraid of his daddy’s money”<br/>
“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me all this” Rory responded<br/>
“Yeah well, you had other things to do deal with, like the book tour, and getting Emily situated for it. I was going to, at the party, then Logan showed up again and you had too much going on.”<br/>
Jess stood up, walked to the phone, and called Derek, the town’s “new” sheriff although, he wasn’t exactly new anymore. Rory pulled the ice off her head, wincing as she touched it. She didn’t realize how hard Logan had slammed her into the window. She didn’t think he would ever hurt her, even after everything.<br/>
“Derek will be here in a minute. He’s gonna take a report, and then we’re going to the courthouse tomorrow to file for a restraining order. It’ll be up to you if you want to press charges” Jess said, hanging up the phone<br/>
“I don’t think I want that. I just want to know he’s coming back” Rory said, looking down<br/>
“Hey,” Jess lifted her head, crooking his index finger under her chin, placing the other hand on her shoulder, “Don’t worry about that. I’ll make sure of it.”<br/>
They stared at each other, their faces inches apart. Rory grabbed the opening of his tan shirt, the one he wore unbuttoned, like a jacket, over his black t-shirt, and pulled him into a kiss. As they broke apart, they were both silent for a moment, absorbing what had just happened.<br/>
“Don’t make me go home alone.” Rory said<br/>
Jess stood up, pulling his coat on, and held out her coat. “Okay” he said<br/>
She stood up, slipped her coat on, and held his hand as they walked out the door, back to her place<br/>
They woke up in Rory’s bed the next morning. Jess had woken up first and was staring at Rory when her eyes opened.<br/>
“Coffee” he said, pointing to her bedside table where, sure enough, a fresh cup was sitting, steam curling around it. She grabbed it and gulped down the whole thing, letting the caffeine clear through her system, washing away the cobwebs. She set the cup down.<br/>
“What” she said at Jess’ look<br/>
“I love you Rory. I don’t know what last night meant to you, but I wanted you to know. I’ve loved you for over 20 years.”<br/>
“Jess”<br/>
“Don’t” he cut her off. “I know you take time to process it. When I say I love you, I’m not asking for anything. I just don’t want to not tell you again. I love you, Rory Gilmore.”<br/>
She leaned in and pulled him toward her, pulling him into a kiss that felt exactly as deep and sincere as last night’s.<br/>
“I love you too. I’m sorry it took so long for me to realize it.” She said softly, her eyes still closed, her forehead pressed to his as their lips separated.<br/>
“I’d wait forever for you.” He said, breathing her in.<br/>
They opened their eyes and looked at each other, and, at the same, said “Will you marry me?”<br/>
Laughing, saying yes, and pressing kisses against each other’s lips, they fell on to the bed again, hands exploring each other.</p><p>The Wedding: An Epilogue</p><p>Four months later, Jess stood in the town’s gazebo, in front of the Reverend, Luke by his side, and Lorelai and Emily standing opposite, smiling in shimmering blue gowns, lilies in their hands. The whole town was present, as were his business partners, his mother, TJ, Doula, everyone staring at him. As the music swelled, they all stood and turned to see Rory coming down the aisle. She was wearing a simple, plain white gown with blue satin trimming the edges, and lilies in her hands to match the ones Emily and Lorelai held. Jess’ heart felt like it would burst. It had been four months, and every time he looked at her, he could only thank his stars that they had found each other. Everything they had been through, led them to this moment. To have to hold, for better or worse, till death do us part, they had made it.<br/>
The End</p>
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